They both termed the budget as disheartening while claiming that it has been prepared, keeping the vote bank in view.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattanayak said the budget has nothing for farmers and daily labourers.
“There is nothing what should have been for farmers, backward class people, daily labourers and SC and ST. In the budget, nothing has been done to bring parity with the BPL people living in urban and rural areas. Rather it has been prepared with a focus on the election.
This type of budget was not expected from a government that has been ruling the State for the last 22 years,” rued Pattanayak.
Echoing the OPCC president’s views, Chief Whip of the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mohan Majhi said, “From the agriculture and farmers' point of view, the budget is nothing to write home about. At a time when farmers are forced to sell their paddy at Rs 500 to 700 less than the MSP set by the central government, schemes like KALIA and BALIA in the budget are only to mislead the farmers. It is prepared with an eye to garner vote bank.
However, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) termed the allegations of the BJP and Congress as baseless.
‘They are complaining because it is their job to do so,” said School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash.
“The budget has been prepared laying emphasis on agriculture, education, road communication, women empowerment, etc. If the agriculture sector is considered, the budget outlay for this sector has been hiked by three times. We can say it is a very welcoming people-friendly budget,” Dash added.
With the opposition including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress ready with several issues to corner the State government, the session is going to be stormy and the new team of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik may have a tough month ahead.
As per reports, the BJP will join the budget session with issues like the migrant problem, farmer problem, Mahanadi water dispute, law and order, electricity tariff hike, near-death education system, disarrayed healthcare, mineral theft, PMAY corruption, hijacking of central schemes, tender fixing and CM Naveen’s foreign tour.
BJP’s Bishnu Sethi said, “Mahanadi has gone dry in Odisha due to BJD’s apathy. Similarly, elephant skeletons are being dug out one after another in the State. Farmers are being forced to return home disheartened with their paddy. We will raise our voices in the Assembly over these issues.”
Similarly, the Congress party will bank on farmer problem, distress sale of paddy, Agniveer scheme, unemployment, bail of prime accused in Mamita Meher murder case etc and try to put the ruling BJD in a tight spot.
Congress Legislative Party leader, Narasingha Mishra said, “Farmers are debt-ridden, the unemployment situation has skyrocketed; there are a lot of issues we can throw at the BJD. We will take a decision after the legislative party meeting.”
While facing the opposition darts in the Assembly is nothing new for the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), this time around it is surely going to be a challenge for the new team that CM Naveen Patnaik has constituted recently.
From the Speaker to Parliamentary Affairs Minister and from the Chief Whip to the Deputy Chief Whip, this is an entirely new team of the BJD. So it is assumed that the next budget session will be a tough job for them.
However, the BJD seemed unperturbed by the allegations and accusations. Speaking to the reporters, BJD MLA, Uma Samantray said, “This is the job of the Opposition. The people of Odisha know the developmental works the BJD has done for them. We are ready for whatever question the Opposition is going to throw at us in the Assembly.”
The first phase of the budget session will continue till July 7. The second phase of the session will commence from July 13 and continue till August 4, making it a 24-day session. The Assembly will be in motion for six hours on each working day.
In budget for 2022-23 financial year, the government has given importance to schemes and yojanas that are aimed at providing direct benefit to beneficiaries. For example, the allocation in KALIA yojana has been increased from last year’s Rs 1,800 crore to Rs1,874 crore this year. Similarly, Rs1,864 crore has been provided under the Bijua Swasthya Kalyan Yojana. A provision of Rs2,000 crore has been made for several programmes under Mission Shakti. Similarly, an allocation of Rs 5,906 crore has been made for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana.
While the Opposition parties alleged that the allocations have been made with an intention to create vote bank and set the government image right, the BJD argued that maximum allocations have been made to solve people’s problems.
Senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra was caustic in his criticism of the government. “The budget has been fashioned in such way that it will see the ruling party through the elections. It is nothing but betraying the farmers. In the coming days, it will spell doom for the BJD,” Mishra said.
Seconding Mishra, Opposition Chief Whip Mohan Majhi said KALIA yojana is not enough to raise the financial condition of the farmers. “KALIA yojana is more for securing the vote bank,” said Majhi.
BJD MLA Rajkishore Das termed the Oppositions’ allegation as baseless, saying the government is trying its best to solve people’s problems. “Once their problems are solved, they would automatically vote in favour of our party. There is no need to create vote banks,”
The government presented the interim budget of Rs2,00,000 crore for the financial year 2022-23 with a provision of Rs1,00,000 crore for programme expenditure, a straight increase of 33 percent as compared to the provision made in 2021-22.
Since industries, start-ups and infrastructure development haven’t been given their due share of importance, economists opined that the government has given importance to yojanas through which direct benefit can be provided to beneficiaries.
“Out of the Rs2,00,000 crore budget, provision for programme expenditure has beenRs1,00,000 crore. It indicates that the government is making a balance between politics and economics,” said economist Rajib Sahu.
Senior journalist Prasanna Mohanty said the government presented a populist budget while neglecting fields that could have ensured the State’s continues progress.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) up to March 2023 and said its guarantee cover will be expanded by Rs 50,000 crore to a total of Rs 5 lakh crore.
The additional will be earmarked exclusively for hospitality and related enterprises.
Union Culture and Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said, "I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat ka Budget'. As India celebrates 75 years of Independence with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we are entering Amrit Kaal and this budget presents a blueprint for India at 100."
"Vikas (development) and Virasat (heritage) go hand-in-hand and this is evident from the fact that this year's budgetary allocations for Tourism and Culture Ministries have been significantly higher."
Of the proposed budget allocation of Rs 2,400 crore, a major portion of the outlay amounting to Rs 1,644 crore is earmarked for the development of infrastructure for tourism and Rs 421.50 crore is meant for promotion and publicity activities.
From the budgetary allocation for major tourism infrastructure schemes, Rs 1181.30 crore is earmarked for the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, and Rs 235 crore for the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual and Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) Scheme.
Rs 130 crore is set apart for the development of iconic sites and the remaining would be used for funding other schemes like capacity building for service providers, Champion Service Sector Scheme, Information Technology and also to meet the establishment expenditure of the Ministry and its subordinate office, the India Tourism Offices, in the country and abroad.
Sitharaman said in difficult hilly areas National Ropeways Development Programme will be taken up on PPP mode and may also cover congested urban areas, where a conventional mass transit system is not feasible.
Contracts for eight ropeway projects for a length of 60 km will be awarded in 2022-23, she said.
An allocation of Rs 227 crore has been earmarked for the northeastern States for the year 2022-23. Rs 98 crore has been allocated under the Tribal Sub Plan for the creation of tourism infrastructure in the tribal areas.
The Loan Guarantee Scheme for Covid-affected Tourism Service Sector (LGSCATSS) has been started during the current financial year.
Guarantee-free loan up to Rs 10 lakh each for Ministry of Tourism-approved travel and tourism stakeholders (tour operators, travel agents, tourist transport operators) and up to Rs 1.00 lakh each to RLGs/IITGs approved by MoT, Tourist Guides approved by state governments and Union Territory administrations is covered under the Scheme.
Around 10 scheduled commercial banks have launched the scheme and cheques/ sanction letters have been distributed to some of the beneficiaries of LGSCATSS. An allocation of Rs. 12.50 crore is provided under the ministry's Budget for 2022-23 for this purpose.
FAITH, the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India has said that more direct and immediate support could have been extended.
It said the extension of ECLGS expansion till 2023 with an additional corpus of Rs 50,000 crore dedicated to hospitality and allied industries will help provide relief.
"The Union Budget provides some relief and medium to long-term infrastructure measures to stressed tourism travel and hospitality industry.
"But there was an immediate opportunity for more direct intervention to support the highly stressed tourism travel and hospitality companies and their employees," said Nakul Anand the chairman of FAITH.
As the countdown has already begun for the presentation of the Budget, 2022 on February 1, people have started speculating over what the government is going to offer them this time.
It is par for the course for the middle class, which accounts for a lion share of the total tax payers, to expect a lot from the Union Budget. Each year, they would wait with bated breath to know what the budget has in store for them.
They would always expect a change in the tax slab in their favour, more options to save their hard earned money, a curb on ever increasing price of essential commodities, creation of job opportunities et al.
This year is no different. Since five states are going for Assembly elections and the middle class families are under severe financial pressure due to the pandemic, it is expected that the Central government will present a more favourable budget, in its effort not to make the people upset.
“The middle class families expect for a budget that will be favourable to them so that the pandemic should not affect them anymore and they can save more as they are trying to come out of the pandemic,” observed Soubhagya Deo, a Bhubaneswar resident.
Another capital resident Ajit Buax shared the same opinion as that of Deo. “The prices of petrol and diesel keep increasing by the day. And it is the common man who always feels the pinch. I hope the government would come up with a favourable budget,” opined Baux. “I hope to see a decrease in the prices of petrol and diesel as the rising fuel prices are burning a hole in the common men’s pocket,” said Biswajit Guru, a Bhubaneswar resident.
The homemakers who have the onus of managing the family expenses have always something to say about the budget. Amid the pandemic, they are struggling with soaring prices of essential commodities. “We middle class families are the worst sufferers. When it comes to the private job holders, the least said the better. The price of everything, starting from cooking gas to grocery items to vegetables, has increased beyond imagination. A considerable slash in their prices would be a huge relief to us,” observed Debajani Mishra, a housewife.
The pandemic has shattered the financial condition of hundreds of families. A family living in Sundarpada area in Bhubaneswar is a case in point.
Until a few months ago, Rajanikanta Mishra’s family had been living a decent life. Mishra is a businessman. Things changed for the worse when his father fell sick. Now he is bed ridden for three months. Money is being spent on his medication like water. And due to pandemic situation, his earning has reduced considerably.
He is facing double whammy. On one end of the spectrum, he has to meet the daily family expenses and at the other end, he is finding it is difficult to meet the education cost of his children. Rajanikanta is also hopeful of a favourable budget. “Our income has come down to almost a trickle. The increasing prices of essential commodities force us to go starving. So I hope for a favourable budget,” observed Rajanikanta.
Odisha Finance minister Shashi Bhusan Behera informed that the amount will be used by the State government for its 1-rupee rice scheme, scholarships for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students, education and health sector, village development projects, social sector and promotion of industrial sector.
"The Additional budget bill is nearly 10% of the main budget and 75% of this amount will be used for the development of various infrastructure," Behera said.
However, the Opposition, discontent with the reply of the Finance Minister, staged a walkout during the discussion on the Appropriation Bill in the Assembly.
It may be noted that earlier on May 1, the Legislative Assembly had passed the Odisha Appropriation Bill, 2018, allowing the state government to utilise the annual Budget of Rs 1.22 lakh crore for the current fiscal from its consolidated fund.
Presenting the budget in State Assembly today, Finance minister Sashi Bhusan Behera said the size of the budget is about 12.3 percent more than the annual budget of 2017-18 and for the first time, the programme expenditure of Rs 62,000 is more than half of the total budget size.
With eyes on the elections, the government's budget focussed more on rural development especially on infrastructure, drinking water, housing for poor. The government has allocated Rs 3,529 crore under Biju Pucca Ghar scheme while for drinking water projects the government has proposed an outlay of Rs 3000 crore.
Similarly, new initiatives like Ama Gaon Ama Bikash has been allocated an outlay of Rs 1,250 crore. For development of SC, ST and other backward classes, the government has made a total allocation of around Rs 22,684 crore.
The government has made an allocation of Rs 19,678 crore for education and skills sector and Rs 6,160 crore for healthcare.
Allocation of Rs 90 crore was proposed for new initiative Biju Yuva Vahini for nurturing leadership and social engagement traits among youth across the state.
The state government has allocated Rs 50 crore under new scheme KHUSHI to distribute free sanitary napkins in a bid to ensure menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls and women.
A new universal eye care programme 'Mukhyamantri Chakshyu Jatna Karyakram'- SUNETRA with an outlay of Rs 682 crore over a period of five year period has also been announced out of which Rs 87 crore will be spent during 2018-19.
Similarly, Rs 125 crore has been allocated for 'Ama Ghare LED Light Karyakram' under which every household will be provided with 4 LED bulbs free of cost.
The government has made an allocation of Rs 30 crore to launch Green Mahanadi Mission for protecting the river, enhancing water availability and improving livelihood.
This year, the state government has allocated Rs 16,765 crore for Agriculture and Allied sectors.
The outlay for the Agriculture budget has been kept at 12.3 percent of the total proposed outlay for 2018-19.
With Agriculture and allied sectors experiencing a decline of 4.70 per cent (AE) during 2017-18 as compared to a growth 19.65 percent during the previous year, the state government has given more stress to farmers' welfare and irrigation this time.
For welfare of farmers, an additional outlay of Rs 250 crore has been approved while a sum of Rs 1,802 crore has been allocated under Parbati Giri Mega Lift Irrigation Scheme.
Enhanced outlay of about Rs 155 crore for Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Rs 100 crore for Corpus Fund for procurement and distribution of quality seeds to farmers, Rs 100 crore for ensuring availability of fertilisers, and Rs 104 crore under National Horticulture Mission to promote horticulture & floriculture have been approved in this year’s budget.
The government has also made provisions to provide low-cost credit to farmers at 1 percent interest rates for loans up to Rs 50,000 and at 2 percent above that. The government has also set a target to insure around 25 lakh farmers this fiscal.
Similarly, Rs 100 crore provision has been made for promoting cultivation of Millets & Bajra in rain deficient regions under Odisha Millet Mission.
Rs 200 crore has been provided for improvement of water use efficiency and to ensure last mile irrigation through field channels and pipes while Rs 450 cr has been allocated for Farm Mechanisation Programme to boost productivity.
The ruling party welcomed the budget with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik terming it as ‘A pro-people, pro-poor and balanced budget’ with strong focus on development.
“It will foster equitable and inclusive growth. I hope this budget will fulfil the aspirations of the people of Odisha,” Naveen told reporters after the budget session today.
On the other hand, the Opposition parties came down heavily on the state government terming the budget ‘disappointing.’
Leader of Opposition, Narasingha Mishra criticised the proposed annual budget and termed it as anti-farmer and anti-poor. "Both the budgets are disappointing. No provisions have been made for the betterment of unemployed youth and it seems that the state government has neglected western Odisha which is largely underdeveloped," he said.
BJP ‘s Padampur MLA Pradeep Purohit termed the budget as extremely disappointing and lacking direction. "I can't see the farming community getting any welfare from the budget," he said.
As per observers, the budget, which is expected to be around Rs 1.20 lakh crore, will focus on education, health, road communication, drinking water and rural infrastructure development.
To woo farmers and middle class, the budget will have special provisions, sources added.
Odisha Finance Minister Sashibhusan Behera said, “As scheduled programs will not get over before March 31, the State government will go for a vote-on-account budget for one month on March 29.”
He informed, the government will table the final budget on March 23 in the Assembly for discussion.
Meanwhile, Opposition is keeping its list ready to corner the ruling party during the Budget session of the State Assembly.
Opposition chief whip and Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati said, “Several issues including deteriorating law and order situation, rising violence against women, increasing corruption will be raised on the floor of the House.”
Speaking on similar lines, BJP State chief Basant Panda said, “Scarcity of drinking water and Kunduli incident will be the key issues during the session.”
On the other hand, the ruling party informed that it is ready to counter the Opposition and will rake up issues like Polavaram, decline in Central assistance, special category state status and MSP hike.
“The ruling party has nothing to worry about as we are ready for discussion on any issue,” BJD spokesperson Debi Prasad Mishra said.
It was known after the Ministry of Railways tabled the demand for grants for expenditure in the Lok Sabha today.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had demanded Rs 6,500 crore this year for railways for the State.
Last year, the Union Government had allocated Rs 5,102 crore against the state's demand of Rs 5,870 crore.
The East Coast Railways ( ECoR) has received an allocation of Rs 6,563 crore in the budget.
At a press meet, ECoR General Manager Umesh Singh today informed that the Centre has allocated Rs 6,000 crore for different projects under its jurisdiction while Rs 563 crore will be spent on electrification of all railway lines of the division.
Khurdha-Bolangir line has received a budgetary allocation of Rs 625 crore while Rs 95 crore has been allocated for Jeypore-Malkangiri project, Singh said.
Similarly, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 150 crore for Jeypore-Nabarangpur line.
Budgetary allocation has also been made for modernisation of all stations under ECoR jurisdiction and upgradation of railway wagon factory at Mancheswar in Bhubaneswar, Singh added.
Reacting to the allocation of funds, the Odisha Commerce and Transport Minister Nrusingha Charan Sahu said "We had demanded Rs 6,500 crore for the development of railway sector in Odisha, but the Centre has allocated Rs 5, 252 crore. It is only a 2.5 per cent increase over the last year. Moreover, not a single penny has been given for new projects which we had demanded," he added.
The shutdown marked the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration, media reports said.
It is the first shutdown in US history to happen while the same party controls both chambers of Congress and the White House, the BBC reported.
Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16, did not receive the required 60 votes.
The budget proposal presented by the Republicans on Friday night got more votes in favour (50) than against (48), but they were insufficient to approve funds. Four Republicans voted against the bill while five Democrats broke rank to support it.
Earlier on Thursday night, the House of Representatives voted 230-197 to extend funding until February.
Minutes before the midnight deadline expired, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blamed Senate Democrats on Twitter for the "Schumer Shutdown", the New York Times report said. (Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, is seen as the prime opponent to the stopgap budget).
"Tonight, they put politics over our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans," Sanders said.
"We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands.
"This is the behaviour of obstructionist losers, not legislators," she added.
Sanders said "the President and his administration will fight for and protect" the American people during the "politically manufactured" shutdown.
The rejection of the funding bill by the Senate meant many government services would close down until the budget was agreed upon.
The last US shutdown was in 2013 during the Barrack Obama administration. It lasted for 16 days when many federal employees were forced to take leave of absence.
On Saturday, Trump wrote on Twitter: "Not looking good for our great Military or Safety and Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy."
According to a report in The Guardian, federal law requires agencies to shut down if Congress has not appropriated money to fund them.
In previous shutdowns, services deemed "essential", such as the work of the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, have continued.
Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera today hinted at an increase in budget size after a meeting with financial experts and former Finance Ministers at State Secretariat.
"A few people may criticise that the government will introduce a budget keeping assembly election in view. But, the government has been bringing pro-people budget every year. In all previous budgets, social sector, farmers and other welfare activities have been given a priority," Sashi Bhusan said.
"During the discussions, a common view emerged that fiscal management of the State is overall good. The economic condition of the State has improved. Now, all parameters related to Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management are being met properly," Finance Secretary Tuhinkant Pandey said.
Former Finance Minister Prafulla Ghadai, who was a part of the meeting, stressed on filling up vacancies to ensure proper implementation of welfare schemes.
"We expect a good budget from the government with emphasis on poverty eradication, healthcare, sanitation, agriculture, education and infrastructure development this year. The government should fill up the vacancies in order to implement all welfare schemes properly," Ghadai said.
Similarly, former Finance Minister Panchanan Kanungo expected sops for farmers in the coming budget. "I think this year the size of the budget is expected to cross Rs 1.20 lakh crore. The Government may introduce pension for farmers or do something in procurement policy. But agriculture sector would be prioritised," Kanungo said.
https://youtu.be/2OgbTNBNciQ
In a letter, Principal Secretary TK Pandey has directed all departments to submit the budget estimates to the Planning and Convergence department by December 5.
Official sources said that the budget will be formulated as per provisions of the Odisha Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2005 in accordance with the annual borrowing ceiling fixed by the Government of India.
The Finance department has categorically stated that estimates after the due date will not be considered.
Earlier, Odisha had abolished non-planned and planned expenditures in the 2017-18 budget in line with the Union Budget.
The State Budget had an Administrative Expenditure, a rechristened form of non-planned expenditure while Programme expenditure was replaced the State planned expenditure.
The departments have been asked to submit proposals for salary, DA, HRA, leave encashment as per ORSP Rules, 2017. However, there shall be no salary provision against the vacant posts, except in cases where finance department has allowed filling up of vacancies.
All the departments have been asked to provide detail information about the staff position, including sanctioned posts, vacancies, posts abolished and also details of contractual employees.
https://youtu.be/7hDGFhYdv5E
The meeting of the temple body presided over by Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingh Dev discussed about the sources of income and expenditure on various heads.
The budget allocated Rs 23 crore for temple’s daily rituals, Rs 1.5 crore for administrative work and Rs 25 crore for the management. Similarly, Rs 17 crore was allocated for the servitors welfare while Rs 40 crore will be spent on the construction of pilgrim shelters.
In the new financial year, the focus will be on opening of new model schools for the kids of servitors and construction of guest houses for pilgrim. At least 240 rooms will constructed within three or four months, temple chief administrator SC Mohapatra
The discussions on the budget went well during the question hour but with the beginning of zero hour both the ruling BJD lawmakers and Opposition Congress legislators created uproar in the house with Speaker Niranjan Pujari adjourning house proceedings till 3 pm.
Senior Congress and Opposition leader Narasingha Mishra brought up issue of Modi’s remarks on poverty in Odisha alleging that they were targeted against the poor.
Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, Mishra said did Modiji come to know of Odisha’s poverty after three years. If so then how come the state has been neglected from special status tag.
If Odisha is poor why is that eight central projects were stopped and funds for 33 centrally sponsored projects were curtailed, he questioned.
Ruling BJD legislator and Minister Sanjay Das Burma also endorsed Mishra’s comments.
Meanwhile, BJP said the issue is being given undue importance by both Congress and BJD to gain political mileage and attempt to taint the prime minister’s image.
“The BJD, Congress leaders are misleading people, they want to tarnish the image of Modiji. But barring them, people of Odisha do not think that the prime minister has made any insult to the state,” said BJP leader Pradip Purohit to media persons.
Notably, during an election rally in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly claimed that if one has to search for the poorest districts in the country then one can find them in Odisha. If the people of the state have come forward to give support to BJP (party’s success during Panchayat Polls) then nothing will remain for other parties in forthcoming days.
Though it is not known what budget provisions Amat is making this time to draw attention of rural voters, it is understood that more pro-people schemes will be launched, besides retaining the ‘popular’ ongoing ones. But, budget analysts feel, what could be challenging for the party is the means of revenue collection as post demonitisation, tax and non-tax revenue generation has failed to achieve the target.
“Since the size of the State budget depends on the revenue collection, is it believed that 2017-18 State annual budget will focus on revenue generation. It is also expected that tax will be increased in sectors like mining, business, stamp duty and land revenue,” said chartered accountant Rajiv Sahu.
“Tax collection, along with receipts from non-revenue sectors, was lower than the target in the last financial year. So we believe that the government will take a calculative step to make the budget pro-people,” Sahu added.
On Wednesday the draft annual budget for 2017-18 was approved at the meeting of the council of ministers presided over by chief minister Naveen Patnaik. As compared to its annual budget of Rs 94,000 crore in 2016-17, the budget for 2017-18 has been pegged at Rs 1.06 crore. Budget has been prepared in line with the central budget by merging the plan and non-plan components.
Few days ago Amat had said budget will be prepared keeping in view the demonetisation move and Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Bhubaneswar: Amidst falling revenue, the Odisha government’s focus will be on increasing revenue generation in the upcoming 2018 annual State Budget. At the pre-budget meeting of the Finance department with former finance ministers, representatives from industries, economists investors, RBI and Nabard officials, emphasis was laid on the areas through which revenue collection can be increased and to prepare the budget clubbing the plan and non-plan sectors together in line with the Union Budget format.
During the months of November and December of the current financial year, tax collection along with receipts from non-revenue sectors was considerably lower than the target.
Keeping in view lower revenue collection, experts at the meeting suggested tax increase in sectors like mining, business, land revenue and professional taxes. Moreover, suggestions were given to collect professional taxes from doctors, chartered accountants and lawyers.
“The size of the budget depends on the revenue collection. What we have observed is that revenue from own tax and non-tax sources have declined as compared to previous years,” said former Finance minister, Prafulla Ghadei.
“A lot of suggestions pertaining to increase in revenue were discussed in the meeting. For example a suggestion was given to levy professional taxes on lawyers, doctors and chartered accountants, who are currently exempted. Let’s see how far the State government accepts these suggestions,” said resident editor of The Business Standard, Dilip Satpathy.
On the other hand, the government has decided to merge plan and non-plan expenditures heads for the 2018 state budget in line with the union budget format.
According to sources, the 2018 budget size is likely to be around Rs 1 lakh crore. With the State government implementing the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, the exchequer will bear an additional burden of Rs 5,000 crore.
More emphasis is likely to be given to social sector, rural infrastructure, irrigation, education and health sectors.
“More focus should be given to agriculture and agri-based industries as there is need to create employment in these sectors. If employment is generated at rural level, then pressure will ease on urban areas,” said retired bureaucrat, Bibek Patnaik.
“The Union Budget is being tabled early following which the State government will place the budget. We will prepare the budget keeping in mind all the key variables including the demonetization move and GST,” said Finance minister, Pradeep Amat.
Bhubaneswar: The Finance department of Odisha will hold discussions with economists, former finance ministers, industrialists and investors ahead of the 2017-18 annual budget tomorrow.
According to sources, the 2018 budget size is likely to be around Rs 1 lakh crore. With the State government implementing the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, the exchequer will bear an additional burden of Rs 5,000 crore.
More emphasis is likely to be given on social sector, rural infrastructure, irrigation, education and health sectors.
Also Read: Odisha extend date to receive public suggestions for budget
“One should expect that the Odisha government will allocate more funds towards infrastructure in areas like irrigation, roads, housing, and other rural infrastructure. The budget size is likely to reach Rs 1 lakh crore,” said senior journalist, Dilip Bisoi.
Experts opine that it will be a challenge for the Odisha government to present the budget after the demonetization move.
Under the initiative of inviting suggestions from the public for preparation of the annual budget for the 2017-18 fiscal, the state government has received 794 suggestions online, 691 through Whatsapp, and 9 through Telegram.
On Friday, the Odisha Council of Ministers had approved the draft budget worth Rs 94,143 crores for the financial year 2016-17. The budget has made provision of Rs 48, 261.90 crores for non-plan expenditure, Rs 45,600 crores for plan expenditure, Rs 140 crores for central schemes and Rs 141 crores for centrally-sponsored schemes.
With reduction in assistance from the Centre, the State government has already indicated that it will will try and manage the budget in a manner that ensures adequate allocation to Central as well as State-sponsored schemes.
Sources have cited that the government may resort to provisions available under Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, which also includes market borrowings.
The first phase will end on March 31 while the second phase will begin from April 26 and conclude on May 20, the notification said.
Finance minister Pradeep Kumar Amat will present the budget for the financial year 2016-17 on March 18. The Finance minister will present the Appropriation Bill for two months while the draft of the full budget for the remaining 10 months will be sent to the Assembly Standing Committee, which would give its suggestions by April 25.
Government sources have earlier revealed the State will be forced to take loans from the open market as the revenue collection target has not been achieved during the 2015-16 fiscal.
Besides, a cut in the Central allocation to States in the Union Budget and changes in the Centre’s share under different schemes will also affect the State Budget.
Earlier this month, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had said “The Agriculture Cabinet Committee has directed the Planning & Coordination department, Finance department, Agriculture and Farmers empowerment department, and other related departments to enhance the outlay for the Agriculture budget.”
The focus areas of the agriculture budget will be to increase the area under irrigation and reduce the gap between irrigation potential available in the State and the actual area brought under irrigation so far, Patnaik had stated.
"We are planning to develop new greenfield ports both in the eastern and western coasts of the country. The work on the National Waterways is also being expedited. Rs 800 crore has been provided for these initiatives," Jaitley had said while tabling the Budget for the 2016-17 fiscal in Parliament today.
The Sagarmala project has already been rolled out, he said, adding that government has initiated a series of steps to modernise and expand the capacity of its 12 major ports.
Under its ambitious Sagarmala project, the government is looking to mobilise at least Rs 10 lakh crore investment, including Rs 4 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector alone, the Finance minister said.
Welcoming Jaitley’s announcement, Panda said, “The Sagarmala project will certainly help coastal states like Odisha.”
“The Centre’s proposal to spend Rs 100 crore on the birth centenary observations of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay is a welcome step. It would have been better, had some allocation been proposed for the birth centenary celebration of Biju Patnaik, which is going to be observed very soon,” Panda said.
As per the notification issued by the Assembly secretariat, the budget session will be held in two phases between March 15 and May 20. There will be 33 working days in the session.
The first phase will end on March 31 while the second phase will begin from April 26 and conclude on May 20, the notification said.
The Finance minister will present the Appropriation Bill for two months while the draft of the full budget for the remaining 10 months will be sent to the Assembly Standing Committee, which would give its suggestion by April 25.
Commenting on the deviation from budget presentation in previous years, Amat had said the new format will help the State government to allocate funds on different heads strategically.
“The idea behind such an initiative is that we will get to know the amounts allocated in the Central budget under different heads beforehand. Besides, during the existence of Planning Commission, we were able to preempt the Centre’s allocation to particular sectors. But after Niti Ayog came into existence, there is less scope for such speculation. So, we will wait for the Centre to present the budget and after analysing it, we will draft State budget,” Amat had said earlier.
Similar situation is also prevailed this year as the department collected Rs 869 crore by the end of December, 2015 against the target of Rs 6626 crore. Collection of remaining Rs 2755 seems impossible within next two months.
Decreasing steel price in international market and delayed auction of mines have posed main reason behind the low revenue collection.
“The price of minerals like steel and iron has decreased marginally. The price, which was Rs 4000 last year, has come down to Rs 14,00 to Rs 18,00 this year. Accordingly, royalty collection has also slashed. We are trying to cover up the deficit”, Steel and Mines minister Prafulla Mallik.
On the other hand the government has retained trust on Excise department which may come to its rescue. The revenue collection of the Excise department has increased by 68 per cent by the end of December than the last year. The department, which has a target of 2500 crore, has expected to reach the point in next two month.
“The budget cannot be prepared with only Rs 2500 crore. Government is fetching funds from various sources. I think our department could reach near the target of Rs 2500 crore”, Excise minister Damodar Rout said.
But, experts feared an inclement impact of less revenue collection on the budget. “Twenty five per cent of total tax comes from petroleum sector. But, this year the State is losing Rs 2000 crore which may raise severe funds crunch. The government may borrow loans to recover it”, senior journalist Dilip Satpathy said.
This was discussed at a high level review meeting presided over by chief secretary AP Padhi at the State Secretariat here on Monday.
Taking note of the severe drought in the state this year, the state government has given more emphasis on the development of the agriculture sector.
Sources said the government would focus on increase in agriculture production, non-paddy crops, easy availability of agri loans, increase in irrigation potential and simplification of agriculture subsidy and incentives.
The chief secretary directed the concerned departments to prepare an integrated and result-oriented draft budget on agriculture.
He also asked the departments to take adequate steps to include both loanee and non-loanee farmers in the Krishi Bima Yojana and ensure timely payment of compensation amount to the affected and insured farmers from the insurance companies.
Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan laid emphasis on proper coordination among departments linked to agriculture for successful implementation of the schemes.
The meeting was attended by the principal secretary, Agriculture and Cooperation Manoj Ahuja; principal secretary, Water Resources Pradip Kumar Jena; secretary, Fisheries and Animal Resources Bishnupada Sethy and experts of Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies and Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT).
“The state government would make provisions for more allocation in this year’s agriculture budget. I hope the government would give priority to irrigation considering the severe drought in the state this year. Besides, it would also raise awareness in the state to bring down the incidence of farmer suicide cases,” senior journalist and Resident Editor of Business Standard, Dilip Satpathy, told OTV.
Notably, the state government had introduced the first agriculture budget in 2013-14 with an allocation of Rs 7161.84 crore, which was 27.26 percent more than the allocation the state government had earmarked for agriculture in the annual State Budget in 2012-13.
The allocation went up by 12.55 percent to Rs 8060.70 crore In 2014-15 and by 14.27 percent to Rs 12,903 crore in 2015-16.
Talking to media after the Committee’s meeting at the secretariat, senior BJD leader Amar Satpathy said, “We will draw the attention of Prabhu about the pending railway construction works in Odisha. Though the Haridaspur-Paradip project got budget approval way back in 1996-97, it is yet to take off.”
“Besides we will also urge the minister to ask Railway Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) to complete its project works early,” Satpathy said.
The BJD legislator from Badchana said that the natural resources should be explored with rail links for overall growth of Odisha.
Assembly speaker Niranjan Pujari said that Committee’s members have given valuable suggestions on the draft memorandum and these will be discussed before the final memorandum is prepared.
“The Committee’s mandate is to hand over a memorandum to the PM and Railway minister for different railway projects in Odisha. We will incorporate the suggestions if found worthy,” Pujari stated.
Bhubaneswar: The state government would convene a pre-budget consultation meeting on January 27 as preparation for a complete State Budget in the Assembly, which will be presented on February 16.
“The meeting will discuss plans of different departments which are usually sent to the Planning and Coordination dept,” said he, adding after this the budget will take a final shape.
The state’s development was hampered as the Centre‘s allocation was decreasing, he said.
As per notification issued by the Parliamentary Affairs department, the third session of the 15th Odisha Legislative Assembly would begin from February 6. First phase of the session would be held from February 6 to 22, while the second phase of the session to be conducted from March 11 till the conclusion of the session on April 4.
The Appropriation Bill would be placed before the House on March 31.
Besides, the Yogi Adityanath government has set aside Rs 100 crore for the forthcoming Kumbh Mela, which will take place in Allahabad in January. Millions from across the world are likely to participate in the religious congregation.
Rs 800 crore had been earmarked for Kumbh in the first supplementary budget. Over Rs 1,500 crore had been allocated in the budget for the current fiscal for Kumbh-2019.
The state government has also proposed a sum of Rs 300 crore for the ambitious Jewar international airport in Noida and Rs 200 crore for constructing an airport in the temple town of Ayodhya.
The state government has allocated Rs 10 crore for setting up of a medical university to be name after late Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the state capital, while Rs 3,3894 crore has been proposed to be spent for power-related projects in the state.
An official informed that Rs 25 crore has been put for emoluments of Aanganwadi workers, while Rs 48 crore has been earmarked for increased wages of Gram Prahris.
The state government had presented a budget of Rs 4.28 lakh crore for the financial year 2018-19 and in August a supplementary budget of Rs 34.833 crore was presented.
A sequel to Shankar's 2010 blockbuster "Enthiran", the film has been produced by Lyca Productions and is gearing for release on November 29.
"2.0" also stars Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Adil Hussain and Sudhanshu Pandey in important roles.
Speaking at the trailer launch, Rajinikanth said the film has been made on a lavish budget of nearly Rs. 600 crore.
"Mark my words, the film will be a super hit. Advance wishes to Shankar and Lyca Productions. Nearly Rs. 600 crore has been spent on the film. The film wouldn't have been possible without the support of Lyca," Rajinikanth said.
He said that the makers spent lavishly on the film for the vision of Shankar.
"This is not a Rajinikanth film. The money has been spent on one man Shankar, who has never failed to entertain audiences. This is his vision and I laud Lyca Productions for backing him," he added.
In the film, Rajinikanth plays a scientist and a robot.
Speaking on the occasion, Shankar said audience will see Rajinikanth in multiple avatars and it'll be a treat to watch.
"Audiences will see him as scientist Vaseegaran, robot Chitti and 2.0 version of Chitti. There will also be a giant version of Chitti in the climax. We also have another version but we'd like to keep that as a surprise," he said.
Shankar raved about Rajinikanth's commitment.
"When we were all set to shoot the climax in a stadium in Delhi, Rajini sir fell ill. Six months of planning had gone into the preparation of the climax which was supposed to be shot in 40 days. Despite his bad health, Rajini sir insisted that we go ahead with the shoot," Shankar said.
"We shot in extremely hot temperature. Rajini sir had to shoot wearing 12 kilo robotic suit. We were stunned by his commitment," he added.
"2.0", which will release in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, has music by AR Rahman.
The actor-producer gave out the information on the inaugural day of the fifth Indian Screenwriters Conference here on Wednesday.
During an interactive session on the topic ‘Writers VS Producers: Can they never be allies?', Aamir was asked: "There is a worrying trend that now the star has started taking about 80 per cent of the film, not profit but actually as his fees. Even though he is letting his fees go, it ultimately comes to the actor taking away 80 per cent. In 20 per cent how are we going to make a successful film?"
The actor replied: "My first rupee comes to me when the film's cost is recovered in every aspect, after the producer's and everybody else's money is recovered. That's the model I work with, and certainly, I take a higher cut in the percentage because I am risking my time on that, and I think producers are happy with that too."
Explaining the model, he shared: "The model that I work on is that, say a film costs Rs 100 crore to make. It consists of everything - cast, crew, production cost, post-production cost and everything comes in that. I don't take any money in that. I take nothing.
"So, when the film releases, I get zero money. And as it starts earning money, that money goes into P and A (Promotions and Advertising), which is over and above Rs 100 crore. Say P and A is Rs 25 crore, it then goes into recovering that.
"Once P and A is recovered, the producer has recovered his money, and everybody has got their fees...then I go into the percentage of profits. This way, there is no way that the producer can lose any money. And if for some reason, the film has not recovered the money, that it didn't do well, then I don't get any money," he said.
Being part of some of the iconic films like "Dangal", "PK", "3 Idiots" and "Lagaan", Aamir believes that the script plays an important role in the success of a film.
"I think the script is the foundation (of a film) and I make sure that once I love the story and the film is in the making, people who are investing money should not be in loss. I don't allow the producer to shoulder the responsibility alone," he said.
He believes that sharing the responsibility of making the film commercially successful also secures his career and builds trust with the producers and financiers of films.
"I think this is the best business model for film and our business because in most of my films, if producer is not losing money, it is but obvious that he will sign me for the next film. That is why I always ensure that if I am signed in a film, there is no loss," he said.
Citing the example of the 2001 film "Lagaan", Aamir said: "Since that film was one of the expensive films of that time and was breaking a lot of rules of mainstream Indian cinema and that is why I felt the importance of taking the responsibility.
"That apart, I know when I come on board, producers and financiers do not question me on the subject I chose for a film because they trust me, they have faith in me. That is why I want to ensure the profit."
Interacting here with corporate leaders following his Thursday presentation in Parliament of his last full budget before the general elections due in early 2019, Jaitley said that a stressed agriculture sector was not in India's interest, indicating thereby that boosting rural demand is a key in helping Indian industry currently burdened with massive leverage, while banks struggle with their accumulated bad loans.
"To have a stressed agriculture sector and ramshackle infrastructure does not serve the country's interests," Jaitley said, adding that the farm sector had been under "a lot of stress for the last seven to eight years."
Noting that the stress in the agriculture sector "is real", he said the philosophy behind Budget 2018-19 is that there remained "segments of the economy that need large amounts of government support" although services are doing well and manufacturing had picked up in the last two quarters.
For the Kharif agricultural output, the budget has increased the minimum support price to one-and-a-half times the production cost, raising institutional farm credit to Rs 11 lakh crore in 2018-19 from Rs 8.5 lakh crore.
Fifteen per cent higher subsidies at Rs 2.64 lakh crore are proposed on food, fertilisers and petroleum products.
The budget highlight was the Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Scheme that aims to cover 50 crore poor people, with the scheme's contours being worked out.
Under Ayushman, Rs five lakh cover will be provided annually to 10 crore poor and vulnerable families in the country, while the budget provides Rs 2,000 crore for the scheme as initial outlay.
"On social welfare we started in a somewhat disconnected way, but now some kind of social security net is beginning to take shape in which the poor beneficiaries are also sharing some of the cost," the Finance Minister told the industry leaders.
Asked about the small outlay on the health scheme, he said more funds would be made available going ahead.
At the post-Budget briefing on Thursday, he had said that as the country progressed economically, setting up a social security net had become essential.
On corporate tax, Jaitley pointed to the proposed reduction to 25 per cent from the coming fiscal for companies which had a turnover up to Rs 250 crore during 2016-17.
Declaring that the ceiling had been raised to go with the new definition of SMEs, he said it would benefit the entire class of micro, small and medium enterprises which accounts for almost 99 per cent of the companies filing their tax returns.
The revenue the exchequer will forgo during the coming financial year on account of this relaxation has been estimated at Rs 7,000 crore.
On the other hand, to mobilise resources required for schemes, the long term capital gains tax has been reintroduced.
Budget 2018-19 on Thursday proposed to tax long-term capital gains on equities exceeding Rs 1 lakh at 10 per cent, which is expected to bring in a revenue of Rs 20,000 crore.
However, capital gains made on shares until January 31, will be "grandfathered", Jaitley said, adding "we have protected all investments coming in before February 1".
Regarding the customs duty imposed, he said that it had been restricted to a few sectors to block cheap imports from destroying domestic industry.
The budget hiked customs duty on mobile phones to 20 per cent from 15 per cent -- a move that will force foreign players to pass on the burden to consumers.
Presenting the budget on Thursday, Jaitley also made a significant announcement of fiscal slippage with implications for pushing inflation, revising upwards the government's fiscal deficit target for 2017-18 to 3.5 per cent of the GDP, or the equivalent of Rs 5.95 lakh crore.
The higher target came in place of the 3.2 per cent - or Rs 5.46 lakh crore - for the current fiscal announced earlier.
"2017-18 Budget Estimates for disinvestment were pegged at the highest ever level of Rs 72,500 crore. I am happy to inform the house that we have already exceeded the budget estimates. I am assuming receipts of Rs 100,000 crore in 2017-18," Jaitley said in his Budget speech.
"I am setting the disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore for 2018-19."
According to Jaitley, the government has approved the listing of 14 CPSEs (Central Public Sector Enterprises), including two insurance companies, on the stock exchanges.
"The government has also initiated the process of strategic disinvestment in 24 CPSEs. This includes strategic privatisation of Air India," the minister said.
While presenting the Union Budget for fiscal 2018-19, Jaitley said: "We have a promise made in our party's manifesto that farmers must get 1.5 times of the input cost. The government has been sensitive about it."
"For major of the notified rabi crops, MSP at 1.5 times over production cost has been decided. Now, I am feeling very happy the government has decided to announce to make the MSP for all notified crops in the upcoming kharif season at least 1.5 times of the input cost. It will help in doubling farmers' income."
In 2017, the MSP for paddy was pegged at Rs 1,550, for sorghum (jowar) at Rs 1,700, for red gram (tur/arhar) at Rs 5,450.
However, farmers were unhappy with the MSP rates as they were lower that the input cost, leading to losses.
The Finance Minister said higher income for farmers was not possible by just increasing the MSP so there was a need of a mechanism to ensure farmers get remunerative prices.
"What is more important is that farmers are benefitted from the notified MSP. If the market prices are lower than MSP, the government must procure at the MSP or devise a new mechanism to ensure farmers get the MSP. NITI Ayog is in discussion with the Centre and states to form a concrete system to ensure remunerative prices," he said.
"Our emphasis is on generating higher incomes for farmers. We consider agriculture as an enterprise and want farmers to produce more from the same land parcel at lesser cost and simultaneously realise higher prices for their produce," he said.
Jaitley also said the target of institutional credit for the agriculture sector was increased to Rs 11,000 lakh crore for 2018-19 from Rs 10,000 lakh crore in 2017-18.
Jaitley said 470 of 585 mandis (markets) in the country were connected to each other under electronic National Agriculture Market and the rest would be covered by March 2018.
He also said the government would upgrade and develop existing 22,000 rural haats into village agriculture markets as 86 per cent of the farmers in the country were small and marginal and not in a position to directly transact with the APMC markets and wholesale markets.
Allocation for the Food Processing Ministry has been doubled from Rs 715 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 1,400 crore in 2018-19.
The Minister also announced allocation of Rs 10,000 crore for Fishery and Aquaculture Development and Animal Husbandry Infrastructure.
"There will be at least 30 per cent of the budget allocation for women beneficiaries in all ongoing schemes, programmes and development activities," he said in his address at the National Consultation of Women Farmers, organised by the National Commission for Women, UN Women and Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch, a forum for women farmers' rights.
In the consultation, women farmers and their collectives from 24 states across India shared a comprehensive framework for establishing gender responsive laws, institutions, policies and programmes in the agriculture sector with the ministry.
Singh said that the ministry would be initiating women centric activities to ensure benefits of various beneficiary-oriented programs/schemes reach them.
"We will be focusing on women self-help group to connect them to micro-credit through capacity building activities and to provide information and ensuring their representation in different decision-making bodies," he added.
Muhith told journalists on Sunday shortly after emerging from the first pre-budget discussion meeting with leading economists, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, he did not elaborate on his 9th budget in a row, the highest for any finance minister of the country.
Bangladesh's 46th budget is expected to be unveiled in parliament in the first week of June.
On June 30, 2016, it passed a $42.58 billion budget targeting an economic growth of 7.2 per cent.
Considering the pro-active participation of the people in the budget-making process, the state finance department has extended the last date for submission of budget suggestions until January 22.
The department has received a total of 1,113 suggestions from people so far, a statement said.
Also Read: Odisha initiates process of obtaining inputs for budget
The finance department has invited suggestions from people in a structured format for the preparation of the annual budget.
The department has developed a web page budget.odisha.gov.in where suggestions can be submitted. The page would host budget documents and suggestions.
The suggestions can also be mailed at odisha.budget@gov.in. Similarly, suggestions for the budget were also invited through Whatsapp, Telegram, and SMS to Mobile number 09438161111.
Members of the public, civil society organisations, advocacy groups and other stakeholders are requested to make use of this unique opportunity to participate in the budget making process of the state government, the statement added.
New Delhi: Delhiites may get free Wi-Fi facility at public places next year as the public works department has set a target of launching the pilot project for the same on March 31 next year.
According to the Delhi government's "outcome budget" under which various departments set target for executing their schemes and projects, tenders for providing free Wi-Fi facility will be awarded by September this year.
Free Wi-Fi at public places across the city was one of Aam Aadmi Party's key poll promises.
In March this year, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said that Wi-Fi project, which was earlier with the information and technology (IT) department, has been given to the PWD to "expedite" the work.
However in the 'risk factor column' in the outcome budget, the PWD said that in the meeting on March 27 this year, the department had intimated that the it will not be able to execute Wi-Fi project due to "non-availability of sufficient staff" and "no expertise" in this field.
The department said the expected date for issue of request for proposals (RFP) is June 30, 2018. It also said that expected date for "commissioning of Wi-Fi hotspots at pilot stage" is March 31, 2019.
In its 2018-19 budget, the Delhi government has allocated Rs 100 crore to provide Wi-Fi facility, even though the government did not mention a timeline for the completion of the project.
In February this year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that the AAP government was working on three to four models for implementing the project.
As the AAP formed its government in Delhi, the project was initially assigned to the Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) of Delhi chaired by the chief minister.
In March 2016, the DDC had started first free Wi-Fi facility on a three-month pilot basis in Sant Nagar market in north Delhi's Burari.
Thereafter, the ruling dispensation had promised that over 500 locations across east Delhi would be made high-speed Wi-Fi zones by December, 2016, but there was no progress.
Image source: Zee News
The thrust, evidently with an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as also to correct perception after the Gujarat Assembly elections of the BJP losing ground in rural areas, will see efforts towards boosting employment, connectivity, housing, toilets and electricity connections in the rural areas.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley devoted considerable part of his budget speech to efforts of the government to boost rural economy and agriculture.
"As my proposals indicate, focus of the government next year will be on providing maximum livelihood opportunities in the rural areas by spending more on livelihood, agriculture and allied activities and construction of rural infrastructure," Jaitley said.
"In the year 2018-19, for creation of livelihood and infrastructure in rural areas, total amount to be spent by the ministries will be Rs 14.34 lakh crore, including extra-budgetary and non-budgetary resources of Rs 11.98 lakh crore," he added.
Besides the employment due to farming activities and self employment, the expenditure is aimed at creating employment of 321 crore person days, 3.17 lakh kilometers of rural roads, 51 lakh new rural houses, 1.88 crore toilets and provide 1.75 crore new household electric connections besides boosting agricultural growth.
With the rural economy inextricably linked to agriculture, Jaitley announced moves to boost income of small and marginal farmers who comprise 86 per cent of the total farmers. He said the government will develop and ugrade the existing 22,000 rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs). Physical infrastructure will be strengthened in these GrAMs using Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and other schemes.
The GrAMs will be electronically linked to e-NAM (national agriculture market) and exempted from regulations of APMCs (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee). They will provide farmers facility to make direct sale to consumers and bulk purchasers.
The government has brought forward the target of connecting all eligible habitations with an all-weather road under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to March, 2019 from March 2022 and has now decided to widen the ambit of the scheme further to include major link routes which connect habitations to agricultural and rural markets (GrAMs), higher secondary schools and hospitals. The PMGSY Phase III will include these linkages.
The government is also seeking to boost organic farming, and Jaitley said that Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) will also be encouraged to take up organic agriculture in clusters under National Rural Livelihood Programme.
He proposed to substantially increase allocation of National Rural Livelihood Mission to Rs 5,750 crore in 2018-19 and expressed confidence that loans to SHGs will increase to Rs 75,000 crore by March 2019.
With a target to provide a house to every poor family by 2022, Jaitley said 51 lakh houses will be constructed in rural areas in 2018-19, adding to 51 lakh houses expected to be constructed in 2017-18.
Jaitley also proposed to set up five lakh wi-fi hotspots which will provide broadband access to five crore rural citizens. He said one lakh gram panchayat had been connected through high-speed optical fiber network under phase I of the Bharatnet project, which has enabled broadband access to over 20 crore rural Indians in about 2.5 lakh villages.
He said it is also proposed to allow strong Regional Rural Banks to raise capital from the market to enable them increase their credit to rural economy.
Jaitley said the government aims at improving the quality of life in 115 aspirational districts by investing in social services like health, education, nutrition, skill upgradation, financial inclusion and rural electrification. The expectation, he said, is that these districts will emerge as "model of development".
"While making the proposals in this year's Budget, we have been guided by our mission to especially strengthen agriculture, rural development, health, education, employment, MSME and infrastructure sectors of Indian economy. I am sure the New India which we aspire to create now will emerge," he said.
The process was discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary A P Padhi on Wednesday evening.
Making a programme-wise review of the activities taken up so far, the chief secretary directed officials of the forest and environment departments to make an assessment of the benefits derived from the first phase of the State Climate Change Action Plan (SCCAP) implemented from 2010-11 to 2015-16.
"The departments have been asked to come up with innovative projects for convergence of funds from different sources," Padhi said, adding that the five-year SCCAP would be implemented with an estimated outlay of about Rs 31,667 crore.
The meeting resolved to set up a regular follow up and outcome assessment unit to ensure result oriented utilisation of fund to be spent for the purpose.
A two-pronged approach was planned to deal with the changing climate. These were 'adaptation' and 'mitigation,' additional chief secretary in charge of the Forest and Environment Department S C Mohapatra said.
Based on the experience of the first phase action plan, the meeting identified 102 action points in 12 major sectors.
The sectors are 13 in agriculture, four in coastal and disaster management, 15 in energy, 14 in fisheries and animal resource development, 13 in forestry, five in health, nine in Industrial arena, nine in mining, five in transport, seven in urban development, four in water resource management and four in waste management.
The action points also included livelihood focused people-centric integrated watershed development programmes, capacity building of farmers, documentation of the indigenous eco-friendly practices, scaling up water use efficient micro irrigation projects.
The meeting also resolved to phase out of old vehicles for reducing emission, promotion of electric vehicles, strengthening enforcement and emission check up system, augmentation of integrated sewerage projects in major urban areas, municipal solid waste management in the second phase of the SCCAP.
While reviewing the plan expenditure, chief secretary A PPadhi today directed department secretaries to put more public services online and develop mobile apps for public services notified under Odisha Right to Public Services Act so that citizens can easily apply from their own mobiles.
Padhi also advised the secretaries to finalize the facilitating and regulating policies that are under preparation within November 17.
The state government has put several investment attracting policies on table during last couple of months.
Some of these policies include pharmaceutical investment policy, health sector investment policy, solar policy, bio-tech policy among others.
Around Rs 20,872 crore has been utilized under state plan up to October which is around 46 per cent of the total budget estimate, an official release said, adding that the utilization in agriculture and allied sectors has been around 49 per cent of the budget estimate which is Rs 5,393 crore in real terms.
The expenditure in agriculture and allied sector has increased by 5 per cent over the expenditure of last fiscal during the same period.
Similarly, the infrastructure spending has also gone up to around 56 per cent of the budget estimate marking a growth of around 2 per cent over the last year.
The utilization in this sector has been to the tune of Rs 6,043 crore in real terms up to October. Social sector spending has also touched Rs 8,373 crore marking an increase of around 4 per cent over the last year.
Also read: Winter session of Odisha Assembly from Dec 1
The total revenue collection up to October has been around Rs 15,153 crore. Padhi asked the revenue generating departments to scale up revenue collection to meet higher expenditure in infrastructure and agriculture sectors.
"Railways facilities have not improved substantially for the past few decades which is the result of under-investment that affects capacity, leading to poor morale. This fed into vicious cycle of chronic under-investment for a long time," Railway Minister Prabhu said.
He said safety, quality of service, standards and efficiency all suffered due to poor financial resources available with the Indian Railways, which further fed into the vicious cycle of poor investment.
"This must be put to an end," he said, adding: "We have to make Indian Railways a benchmark organisation in safety, security and infrastructure."
Earlier he presented a white paper on Indian Railways, which he said will form a trilogy of what plans he had in mind for one of the largest such networks in the world along with his budget for 2015-16 and a Vision 2013 document to be presented later in the year.
"I am signalling that it is good corporate and business practice to be able to raise your own capital... I would urge banks to raise their own capital," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in his post-Budget interaction with media.
"There are various kinds of capital Tier 1, Tier II etc. They should raise capital. The government will provide whatever it can afford to provide," he added.
The government proposed to provide Rs 11,200 crore for capital infusion in public sector banks in 2014-15.
Chidambaram said: "What we have provided is what we have budgeted now. This is an Interim Budget. In regular budget you will get a full picture what government can provide as additional capital."
One of the claims on the net profits of banks is to put aside a significant part of that for additional capital, he further said.
"Banking, unlike other industries, requires capital every year. Banking, if you have to grow their business even, to take one step forward, you need additional capital because there are provisioning requirement, capital requirement," Chidambaram said.
"Therefore, banking is a very special business where additional capital is required every year and therefore boards of banks, employees of banks must recognise that a significant part of their earning must be put aside as cash," he said.
The government infused Rs 14,000 crore in public sector banks during the current financial year ending March 31. Of this, the State Bank of India got Rs 2,000 crore while Indian Overseas Bank received Rs 1,200 crore.
Bhubaneswar, Jan 27 (IANS) The decrease in mining revenue is likely to affect Odisha's budget plan, even as the state government is discussing with experts and stake holders the contours of the annual budget for the next fiscal (2015-16) here Tuesday.
The budget will be presented in the state assembly Feb 16.
Mining royalty collection, which accounts lion share in state revenue, has come down by about 24 percent in April-November this year against 2013-14 collection in the same period following closure of many mines and court cases.
The target of mining revenue for the year 2014-15 was Rs.6,346 crore, said a mines official.
The cut in oil prices in the wake of falling global oil prices has also resulted in a revenue loss even as the state government has recently hiked VAT by three percent to adjust the revenue deficit.
"There was decrease in mining revenue collection in the state. However, we are trying to meet the target by March 31 to generate more revenue in the sector. Besides, we stand to lose about Rs.200 crore revenue from petroleum products," state Finance Minister Pradeep Amat told reporters here.
Focusing on collection of more revenue in the coming budget, Amat said the government would try to go for amicable settlement with state and central PSUs and others, which have moved various courts against imposition of taxes.
The state government is also unsure about the quantum of central assistance to the state in the coming financial year.
"This is the last year of 13th Finance Commission. The first year of 14th Finance Commission will start in 2015-16. The planning commission has also been abolished and the NITI Ayog has come. So, what would be the impact of central assistance will come only after central budget. We will accordingly fine tune in the supplementary budget," said Finance secretary R. Balakrishnan.
He, however, said the experts have advised to give more focus on removing poverty on agriculture sector and removing the unemployment problems.
"The approach would be how to maximise the revenue collection. Second thing is how to make the expenditure success-oriented," said Balkrishnan.
Former finance ministers, former finance secretaries and senior officials of the state Finance department were present in the pre-budget meeting.
While the state has projected a total collection of over Rs.27,886 crore revenue in 2014-15, data shows that collection of state tax and non-tax revenue by November stood at Rs.14,919.65 crore, out of which Rs.10,939.92 crore was the tax revenue collection.
The total revenue collection had dipped by 3.69 percent in April-November compared to corresponding period last year, said an official of the finance department.
While the government had last year alloted Rs 2.29 lakh crore in the budget, it was revised to Rs 2,22,370 crore.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley underlined that defence of every square inch of our mother land comes before anything else.
"So far, we have been over dependent on imports, with its attendant unwelcome spin-offs," he said, adding that government has already permitted FDI in defence.
He said this was done so that the Indian-controlled entities also become manufacturers of defence equipments, not "only for us, but for export".
Speaking on the steps taken to boost the defence sector, Jaitley said the government is working towards self- sufficiency through the Make in India programme in defence equipment including aircraft and added that the government has been both transparent and quick in making defence equipment related purchase decisions.
"This year too, I have provided adequately for the needs of the armed forces. As against likely expenditure of this year of Rs 2,22,370 crore the budget allocation for 2015-16 is Rs 2,46,727 crore," he said in his budget address.
As the annual kumbh mela of financial jugglery nears, economists, experts on finance and industrialists are suddenly in great demand, hopping from one TV studio to another dispensing nuggets of economic gyaan. Twitter and other social media outlets are abuzz with both experts and common men joining in the fun. The deliberations reach fever pitch on budget day with panelists, booked weeks in advance, dissecting every little component of the Union Finance minister’s speech and assessing their impact on the economy. [Funnily, some of the ‘experts’ have to brush up their knowledge and understanding of the budget provisions, more often than not by talking to real ‘experts’, before venturing into a TV studio!]
While the ‘experts’ dispense their pearls of wisdom in the air-conditioned comfort of the TV studio, the reporters have to sweat it out on the ground, often having to brief a person on the provisions in the budget – and sometimes even on what they should say – to get the customary ‘vox pop’ that is such an essential part of budget coverage.
Such is the obsession of our media with budget that the news of a powerful landmine blast triggered by suspected Maoists in the Sunki ghati in Koraput district on Wednesday evening - which, in the normal course, would have been at the top of the headlines – was quietly relegated to the background.
But does the hullabaloo really matter for the common man? Does the man on the street, already reeling under the impact of demonetization, really care if cash deposits of over Rs 3 lakh have been outlawed by the budget? Does the man who slogs eight hours a day on a construction site for two square meals give two hoots if ‘friends’ of political parties cannot donate more than Rs 2000 (the earlier limit was Rs 20, 000) in cash (a budget proposal that has been sought to be sold as the greatest piece of electoral reforms to a gullible public)? Does the labourer waiting at Kantabanji station for a train to Raipur or Hyderabad really know or bother about the implications of a falling tax-GDP ratio? Just about the only way he would be affected by the budget (now that there is no separate railway budget) is if it raises passenger fares. And remember, these are the people who constitute the majority of the Indian population. They are the very people for whose supposed benefit most government schemes – and budget proposals – are launched. [Then there is the large population of smokers who know months in advance what the budget would entail for them - a hefty hike in the price of their favourite fag - and yet couldn’t care less!]
So, who exactly are the people who obsess about the budget? The middle class – the salaried class, in particular – for sure. Then there are those who are in various trades and industry, including the rapidly growing services sector, people in the academia and wannabe arm chair ‘experts’ nurturing dreams of making it to a TV studio for discussion on the budget some day. Even after three decades in journalism, this columnist, for one, has never quite understood the correlation between the stock market and a particular budget proposal and has frequently wondered whether this is not an essentially middle class obsession.
Sources privy to the budget preparations said, that it may offer more support to some of the existing farmer support schemes, including for minimum support price (MSP), interest rate subvention and higher fertiliser subsidy.
In the interim Budget presented in February, agriculture had received an unprecedented 144 per cent hike rise in allocation, from Rs 57,600 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1,40,764 crore in the February budget.
This allocation set for a minimum 30 per cent hike by to reach about Rs 1.83 lakh crore in the full budget due in July. Agriculture had comprised 3.52 per cent of the budget in the 2017-18, but had cornered 5.39 per cent of the interim budget in February.
The biggest announcement in the interim budget -- the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi to provide structured income support to 12 crore farmers at a cost of Rs 75,000 crore may see a variant to provide a regular annual income to the farmers, a source said.
"There may be some flagship scheme like the Kisan scheme in the 2019 interim budget, in the July full budget which would be a flagship, or a distinct feature, for the farmers", he said.
The Kisan scheme, which has already been rolled out retrospectively from December last year, was earmarked Rs 20,000 crore for the rest of the last fiscal (January-March).
Only half this amount could be spent as the election model code of conduct came into operation almost midway through the last quarter.
The Budget may also announce a higher interest rate subvention for crops affected by natural calamities like the recent cyclone 'Fani', and also on timely repayment of loans, the sources said, adding there is no direct farm loan waiver under consideration as the government does not want to encourage this credit culture.
The fertiliser subsidy is also going to see a higher allocation as the government is trying to provider soil nutrients to the farmers.
The fertiliser subsidy in the interim budget was pegged at Rs 74,986 crore for 2019-20. The fertiliser subsidy bill in 2018-19 overshot by at least Rs 25,000 crore, which was rolled over to the 2019-2020 fiscal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chairing an all-party meeting on the eve of the first session, invited heads of all parties to a meeting on June 19 who have an MP either in the Lower House or the Rajya Sabha to discuss the "one nation, one election" issue.
The meeting will also discuss the issue of celebrations of 75 years of India's Independence in 2022 and 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary this year, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said.
Modi also invited all MPs from both houses of Parliament for a dinner on June 20 where they will interact freely and exchange views.
"Both these are initiatives are aimed to build 'esprit de corps' among members of all parties in Parliament," Joshi said.
Noting that there are many new faces in this Lok Sabha, Modi said the first session of the Lower House of Parliament should begin with "fresh zeal and new thinking".
At the all-party meeting, the Congress raised with the government issues of unemployment, farmers distress, drought, and press freedom, while also calling for early conduct of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
The opposition parties demanded discussion on all such issues in Parliament, with the Congress asserting that it is still a "fight of ideologies".
The prime minister, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress lawmakers Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, K Suresh, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and TMC leader Derek O'Brien were present at the meeting.
The BJP also held its parliamentary party meet here Sunday, with Modi assuring the leaders that his government will be at the forefront of facilitating legislations that manifest the spirit of "sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas".
A day before the first session, a meeting of the NDA was also held here.
The Lok Sabha will have 30 sittings and the Rajya Sabha 27 sittings between June 17 to July 26.
The Modi government had promulgated ten ordinances in its first term after the opposition used its majority in the Rajya Sabha to block the bills in the previous session.
It had promulgated some ordinances again, including the triple talaq bill, amendment bills on Jammu and Kashmir reservation, Aadhaar laws, companies act and the Indian Medical Council Act.
Among the bills that will be introduced in this session, the one on triple talaq can be contentious for the government and the opposition.
The first two days of the session will be used for administering oath of office to all Lok Sabha MPs by Protem Speaker Virender Kumar.
The speaker will be elected on June 19 and the next day the president will address a joint sitting of both Houses.
The budget will be introduced on July 5.
Addressing the media after the all-party meeting, Joshi said the prime minister urged leaders of all parties to "introspect whether members of Parliament are able to fulfil people's aspirations as their representatives and the manner in which last two years of the 16th Lok Sabha were wasted".
An all-party meeting is a customary procedure before the beginning of every session of Parliament to ensure its smooth functioning.
Joshi said the government has requested all parties, especially the opposition, for their cooperation for the smooth functioning of both Houses of Parliament.
The pre-budget consultations chaired by the Odisha Finance minister reflected such contours of the upcoming full-fledged budget. However, all eyes will be on Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari who will be presenting the budget on June 28.
During the pre-budget consultations, several financial experts stressed on ‘qualitative expenditure’ and suggested a number of other proposals to maintain a balance between revenue and expenditure.
Former Finance minister, Panchanan Kanungo proposed that the State government should urge the Centre for a special package project instead of special category status.
“Keeping in view the fact that cyclones and other natural calamities strike Odisha every two to three years, Odisha government should demand a special package project in which trees should be planted along the entire 400 km coastline (up to 10 km width) and coast canal. With the demand of special package, other States which are also affected by natural disasters will not have any problem,” said Kanungo.
“Discussions were held to increase the budget size with focus on health, education and other infrastructure, additional funds and increase disbursement under rural housing scheme from Rs 1.30 to Rs 3 lakh,” said former finance minister Prafulla Ghadei.
Ghadei further stated that proposals were also made for qualitative expenditure as it is not possible to impose new taxes. Moreover, emphasis will be laid on tourism development and collection of penalty from mining leaseholders, Ghadei added.
Earlier in February, the then finance minister Sashi Bhusan Behera had presented an interim budget of Rs 1.326 lakh crore for the full year 2019-20. Highest of Rs 4,461 crore was allocated for the recently-launched KALIA scheme, followed by Rs 2935 crore for rural water supply – BASUDHA Scheme and Rs 2120 crore for Madhubabu Pension Yojana.
Odisha government on the other hand claimed that there has been a rise in revenue from mines, excise and GST and hence there would be no problem in implementation of the schemes announced.
“We have received several suggestions and will consider and incorporate them in the upcoming budget,” said Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari.
Those earning Rs 5 lakh per annum will, however, be required to file tax returns even if they have zero tax liability.
There is a huge expectation from the new Finance Minister of an increase in the basic exemption limit from Rs 2.50 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
Though there is an expectation among salaried class that the Modi 2.0 government would reward them for voting it to power, officials here have earlier said that increasing the basic exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh will defeat the purpose of the interim budget announcement.
According to them, increasing the basic exemption limit will not require many people to file income tax and it could result in a dip in tax filing, and would even defeat the purpose of expanding the tax base.
Tax experts have suggested to the Finance Minister in their pre-Budget meeting that raising the basic income tax exemption level would not prove to be a wise move since the Narendra Modi-led government's focus has been on increasing the country's taxpayer base.
There is also little possibility that the government would tweak the existing tax slabs in a way that a 10 per cent tax rate applies to those earning up to Rs 10 lakh, instead of the existing 20 per cent.
Sources said there could be some additional tax-saving measures for salaried individuals.
Income tax collections have been lower than expected which also does not support any possibility of raising the exemption limit.
Sources also said that there is no possibility of the threshold for the highest 30 per cent tax rate being raised to apply to incomes above Rs 15 lakh in the upcoming Budget but could happen in future years.
The Finance Ministry is not only looking to increase the taxpayer base but also wants to increase revenue from taxes as it needs to invest aggressively to revive growth and consumption. Therefore, there are minimum chances that the government would tinker with income tax rules in the upcoming budget.
BY ANJANA DAS
"The tentative dates for discussion and voting on demands-for-grants for 2O19-20 are expected between July 11-17. The general discussion on Budget is tentatively scheduled on July 8," a communication from the Finance Ministry's Budget division said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman faces an uphill task. She has to rescue Asia's third-largest economy from the brink of a major slowdown. In May, India lost its spot as the fastest-growing major economy in the world though government said it still is the fastest growing.
India's GDP slipped to a 5.8 per cent growth in the last quarter of FY19, down from 6.6 per cent in the previous quarter, and lower than the 6.4 per cent growth registered by China. The consumtion demand and investment cycles are the lowest pressing for higher government spending in a year when revenues are on the downside. Job creation is missing with unemployment at the highest 6.1 per cent.
Sitharaman also has to meet a tough disinvestment target in a slowing economy and tough market to expand the government kitty in a year when tax revenue are almost certain to be lower. The government is looking to garner Rs 90,000 crore from disinvestment, up from Rs 85,000 crore it got last year. The bulk of last year's earnings, however, came from the central public sector enterprise (CPSE) exchange-traded fund (ETF), a pool of PSU shares, as against the government's desire to sell strategic stake in government-owned companies.
This fiscal government will milk the current ETFs and launch new ETFs like financial sector ETF and debt ETF. So far the government raised Rs 2,350 crore in the first two months of the current fiscal. To kickstart the disinvestment process, Niti Aayog, a think-tank of the government has suggested 35 PSEs where the government is likely to sell its stake. Recently government said Air India will be attempted to be sold. Last year too, the government had tried to sell Air India, but it didn't find any takers.
Both Direct and Indirect Tax revenues are also not matching the huge agricultural package the government is giving like the recent Rs 87,000 crore expense, up from Rs 75,000 crore for the Direct Income Scheme for the poor and marginal land farmers. With a slowdown gripping the economy, the non-tax revenues like CPSE profits and dividends are also not on higher trajectory.
Besides laying the roadmap, the Finance Minister's challenge will be a tightrope walk between containing the fiscal slippage and handling growth slowdown. The latter, due to slowdown in consumption, exports and gross domestic capital formation, calls for an economic stimulus package which is at odds with the objective of fiscal consolidation.
Fiscal deficit at 3.4 per cent will be difficult to maintain, but credit rating agencies warn of downgrade for India should it fall, making raising capital for Indian companies costly. It will also raise the interest costs of the government while FIIs will shy away.
But at the same time she will have to fulfil the common man's aspirations as it is the common man which has voted her party back to power for the second time with as the largest party.
Bhubaneswar: Ecotourism is the buzzword. Odisha government, too, seems keen to make the most of it having set aside Rs 7.7 crore in the current budget for infrastructure development at ecotourism sites. This sector has tremendous potential for revenue generation and the best thing about it is that local communities have a stake.
In the last few years the focus has shifted from heritage and ethnic tourism to Nature and ecotourism. While the state government is already working on a project to develop ecotourism destinations at 30 places across 22 districts facilities for tourists may also come up at some other sites known for their scenic beauty.
Currently the ambitious ecotourism project is being jointly implemented by tourism and forest and environment departments with forest officials taking care of infrastructure development and their tourism counterparts creating the right kind of buzz around these sites. Publicity, after all, is a key element of tourism promotion. It is time the state marketed its numerous tourist destinations properly.
If sources are to be believed work is at an advanced stage at most of these sites including Mangaljodi on the banks of the famous Chilika lake which attracts lakhs of migratory birds during the winter. Mangaljodi, which has the reputation of being a bird watchers’ paradise, now boasts of a state-of-the-art bird interpretation centre for the benefit of tourists.
Steps are also being taken to construct at least a dozen rooms, watchtowers and nature trails in the area which was once infamous for bird poaching. Other sites being developed by the government as part of the project include Barakhandia and Dhodrokusum under the Hirakud wildlife division, Kumari and Jamuani the under Baripada wildlife division, Deras and Godibari under the Chandaka wildlife division and Tarava and Chhotkei under the Satkosia wildlife division.
Odisha having been blessed with bounteous natural beauty the government should do everything possible to exploit its potential for tourism development to the optimum. The strategy of focusing on forest-clad tribal areas like Kandhmal and Sundergarh is fine but there should be an effort to identify lesser known sites. While places like Daringbadi in Kandhmal and Khadadhar in Sundergarh are already drawing tourists thanks to the government focus on them many smaller sites have not been highlighted properly.
The idea of community participation in the management of ecotourism sites is brilliant because it makes local communities a stakeholder instilling a sense of responsibility in them. The “sarkar ka maal dariya mein dal” ( let government money go waste) attitude vanishes the moment the communities inhabiting these places realise that they, too, are going to make money out of it.
This will not only make them more careful about the maintenance of these sites but also more hospitable towards the visiting tourists. This is the best way of drawing tourists to Odisha which despite its tremendous potential in this sector has not been as successful as some other states. Time has come to change that by making the tourism sector more vibrant with new ideas and initiatives.
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
The 30-share index was trading 114.67 points, or 0.29 per cent, higher at 40,022.73 at 0930 hours. Similarly, the broader Nifty was quoting 31.85 points, or 0.27 per cent, up at 11,978.60.
"The market is eagerly looking forward to the budget proposals, especially for those things that matter for speedy recovery or revival in growth and employment," said K Joseph Thomas - Head of Research, Emkay Wealth Management.
Response from the market would depend to a large extent on the measures to enhance agrarian employment and productivity, and thereby demand, he said, adding that the fiscal deficit level and the glide path are also important as the markets have a dislike for major deviation from the direction set.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack in early trade included IndusInd Bank, L&T, HUL, Kotak Bank, HDFC, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and RIL, rising up to 1.14 per cent.
On the other hand, Yes Bank, ONGC, Vedanta, NTPC, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, Bharti Airtel and TCS were among the losers, shedding up to 1.82 per cent.
In the previous session, the BSE gauge settled 68.81 points, or 0.17 per cent, higher at 39,908.06, while the Nifty climbed 30 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 11,946.75.
On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 28.95 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares to the tune of Rs 58.59 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed Thursday.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee depreciated 16 paise to 68.66 against the US dollar.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, Nikkei and Kospi were rangebound in their respective early sessions.
Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.05 per cent lower at 63.27 per barrel.